Commonly when interacting with a merchant, a consumer is provided with information related to the transaction between the merchant and the consumer. Specifically, the merchant may provide a receipt for the transaction to the consumer. Typically, the receipt includes information such as the amount of funds transferred in the transaction, the items exchanged in the transaction, and information related to the method of payment.
Historically, a consumer would collect paper receipts for all the consumer's transactions with merchants in order to track the consumer's purchase history. However, with the advent of modern payment methods (e.g., credit cards, debit cards, etc.), a consumer's transactions using a particular payment method may be tracked automatically. For example, an entry for a credit card transaction includes information such as the amount of funds transferred and the location at which the funds were transferred. In this case, the consumer may review his credit card transactions on a monthly statement or via an online service associated with the credit card.
In some cases, a merchant may also keep a separate record of transactions with consumers. However, the merchant typically tracks transactions only for the merchant's use and does not share the information with consumers or other merchants. For example, the merchant may track a consumer's purchases in order to provide the consumer with offers relevant to the consumer's purchasing habits.